Wed 27 Dec 2006
Got my wife a DS Lite, along with the Brain Age + Brain Academy bundle, for xmas. As she’s a true non-gamer, she was a bit taken by surprise that I’d get her such a gift.
By midday on the 25th, she was taking the DS to “pass the time” in the bathroom…
Another Nintendo success story in broadening the games playing audience!
(Funny side note, she asked what all the funny buttons (ie, D-pad, A, B, etc) were for as both of those brain games only use the stylus ;)
Wed 20 Dec 2006
As we all know, gaming and games are becoming ever more pervasive. But, as a long time gamer, still kinda odd seeing games mentioned/covered/etc in unexpected places. A few recent examples that caught me off-guard:
Dr. Phil playing and giving out Wiis to his entire audience.
Several positive articles (and the cover) in Associations Now about the power of games for learning and as an escape from everyday stresses (note, the stereotypical association worker is NOT a gamer type).
Games listed as a sport/recreation/fitness activity on a registration questionnaire for a new exercise bike I purchased.
Wiis on Dr.Phil! Hmm, coming of the apocalypse or a good thing?
Tue 19 Dec 2006
One of the cool parts of my work with the IGDA is that I get to travel to interesting places and meet lots of diverse people from around the world/industry. Here’s where I was in 2006 (ie, stayed at least one night).
Sadly, didn’t make it back to Asia this year, but did hit the South American continent for the first time! And, despite my desire to slow down a bit (ie, due to family commitments and all), I seem to be traveling more each year… Or, at least a few more over last year. In fact, I probably had to refuse more invitations than what I could accept. What’s that joke about cloning???
Also, oddly, this is the first time I’ve gone to the same city twice during the year - and it happened three times (Ottawa, Boston and Raleigh).
Fri 15 Dec 2006
Over the years lots has been said about Hollywood’s growing interest in games, etc, etc. On the awards/awarding front, here’s a very positive and exciting example of progress:
This one, not so much:
Lots of discussion from gamers at Digg on the VGAs…
As always, I’m super biased about the awesomeness of the Game Developers Choice Awards. FYI, nominations begin January 2nd…
Thu 14 Dec 2006
With several long flights and a pre-next-gen lull of great games to play, 2006 was a good year for reading. I got in 26 books this year (better than my 2-book-a-month average goal and better than the 22 books I read last year). Not bad considering that I’ve added Edge to my monthly magazine reading habit (alongside Wired, Game Developer Magazine, Develop and Associations Now).
In somewhat logical categories, here’s what I read over the past twelve months:
Game Related
Business
Culture/Social/Economic
Associations Related
Tech/Science
So, a bunch of biz books and lite on the game related books this year - along with some “self-help” books to soften my often aggressive approach… Many of the biz books were particularly informative and insightful. Particular highlights were Blue Ocean Strategy, Built to Last, Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Innovator’s Dilemma and Long Tail. On the more economic/social side of things A Whole New Mind, Blink, The World is Flat and Work to Live were all great reads.
Also, happy to say that I bought my first ever print-on-demand book, …101 Things About Associations…, from Lulu.
Although there’s still 2+ weeks left in December, I’m currently too distracted by my Xbox 360 to be bothered to read ;) And, next in the queue is the mammoth 1000-page Team of Rivals…
Tue 12 Dec 2006
Read a great article on brainstorming titled “Putting the Brain Back Into Brainstorming” in the November issue of Associations Now (yes, a magazine on how to better manage associations - my day job, remember ;) The piece has little to do with associations per se, and more generally speaks about the pitfalls with traditional group brainstorming (which turns out is usually less productive/effective that isolated ideation). The article reflects research from a large body of work embodied in the book Group Creativity: Innovation Through Collaboration.
Anyway, all super relevant stuff as so much of the game design and development process is both based on fresh ideas/approches and teamwork. What could be accomplished if we were effective and efficient at idea generation?
Two related notes: The IGDA’s Production SIG were recently discussing design doc tools and someone pointed to Mindjet’s MindManager information visualization and management software. Wow! Also, check out a sneak preview of all the great ideas to improve the industry that came from the collective minds of 30 industry vets during the “Project Horseshoe” think-tank.
